Love Or Blood

Chapter 7

Alice's head pops out over the edge of the bed. She's smiling.

I smile back, "I can't afford to leave you alone anymore than I already have."

Her eyes glisten, "If you go into a coma again, I'll kick your butt until you wake up," We laugh together for a little while.

It was too early to eat breakfast so we played a few rounds of tic-tac-toe. Again, she wins.

"Damn it! Have you been practicing while I was sleeping?" I ask, squinting my eyes at her. She giggles. "You were weren't you! You could have at least given me a handicap."

"I think you just suck," she teased. I punch her in the shoulder, causing her to fall over. She lays there laughing. I laugh too, until we were interupted by loud pounding.

"Seems like breakfasts ready!" I shout over the noise.

——

A year passed by in a flash. Nothing exciting happened, sadly. To think that in a year, I'll be living outside of here. I was scared yet excited at the same time.

I lay in my bottom bunk and stare at the springs popping out of Alice's bunk above me. "Hey Alice," I whisper. I wait several minutes before deciding that she was still asleep. I roll over in my bed and clench my fist. "I've gotten my strength back," I sigh.

I lean over and blindly search for the dagger hidden under my bed. My fingertips contacted with the cool metal. Gripping it, I tug it out. I craddled it in my hands and feel as it heats up against my skin. Blood.It yerns. My heart started rapidly beating. I've been cutting myself to keep it from wanting to shed others blood.

I tug my orange sleeve up and rest the dagger lightly on my skin. I take a deep breath, then quickly drag it across my arm. I let out a quiet whimper as I watch the blood slowly drip down my arm. Yum.It slurps. I took the blade off my arm, cleaned it with my sleeve and tucked it back in my hiding place.

I rip off a piece of my disguarded jacket, that I use for bandages, and wrap it over my wound. I tie a tight knot and cringe in pain. I tried to get rid of it, but it keeps coming back.' A single tear slides down my cheek as I remember the time it told me to kill Alice.

So I gave it what it wanted until I was out of this place, then I would try to dispose of it.

Since we were young and missing school, they had special classes held for the uneducated. So starting today, they decided they were going to cram as much knowledge as they could before we had to leave.

"Alice, Yukiko, wake up. You have school," a soft, kind voice lulls as I try to open my eyes. It seemed like I fell asleep after waking up early that morning.

I slid off my bed, eyes still half way closed, and stood up. Alice leaped off the top bunk with so much excitement, I could feel her energy from here.

"Yay! School!" I never thought I would meet anyone that was so enthusiastic with learning.

Without saying another word, I threw my orange jumpsuit on and followed a young lady to another room.

There were a few more people that was in the room, all sitting at desks. The room looked almost like a classroom, except everything was more broken down and worn. The walls were white and boring. It almost felt like an insane asylum.

The young lady stepped in the front of the class and announced names, as if she was taking role. Her long hair was braided and it fell past her waist. It's so long! My hair was just slightly brushing the small of my back. She was really pretty.

The rest of the day went by in a flash and we were already snuggling up in our beds.

"Can I sleep with you?" Alice squeaks over the edge of the top bunk. She peeked her head over and the only thing I could see was a dark silhouette looming over me. It was kind of creepy.

"Sure," she pounced over the edge and jumped right into my bed. She was so warm. This reminded me of the times when my sister would get nightmares and we would stay up all night talking about random thing. I miss her like crazy. Tears unexpectedly started streaming down my face.

"What's wrong?" She asks. I couldn't quite hide the sobs in the pitch black silence.

"I just miss her," I cry.

I didn't even have to tell Alice who I was even talking about. She just knew what I was thinking. Just like my sister. Tears fell like waterfalls.

"I know how you feel. It sucks losing someone."

"Ha. Tell me about it. I was the one that killed her."

For the rest of the night we just talked about random stuff like what we were gonna do after we left here.

~~~

The day finally came and it was time for Alice and I to separate. Alice had to go stay with a relative while I had to go, well, who knows! I guess I could just ride around and try to find a school that would except me.

Alice and I sat together on the bus. It finally slowed down a bit in front of a beautiful house. I was jealous. She gets to go to a wonderful home and I have to live off the streets. I know my parents don't wanna take me back, that's for sure. They're probably all the way across the world by now, most likely have adopted another kid or something in our place.

I could feel my sisters presence as Alice stood up out of her seat and left the bus. Without a goodbye, too painful to bear the fact that we would probably never see each other again.

She glanced over at me one last time and I smiled.

'Thank you. For everything.' I mouthed. She understood and nodded.

'Goodbye.' She whispered mostly to herself.

A silent tear escaped my eyes as I watched her waddle up the stairs and enter the building with an open heart. She might go back to jail. She was a crazy person after all. You never know, I might even see her again in there.

I chuckled to myself. I hope that doesn't happen. When I meet her again, I want it to be because of a coincidence with family or something like that. Not from inside of prison. Our lives will be better the next time we meet.

I sat up in the front so I could speak with the bus driver. He was the same bus driver I had when I first got here. To think that I'd actually remember something like that.

I smiled at him as I explained my dilemma.

"So do you think you could find me a school?" I asked politely.

"I don't know if there will be a school that will accept you but we can try. And I will do my best to get you into a school because I've always wanted to see a change in someone after they leave prison. Especially kids your age. I have never been asked by the child them self to be dropped off at a school," he winked at me. "And since there's no one else in the bus, we can go any where you want."

"Will I have to go into an orphanage? Since I have no parents right now."

"I don't think so. You could probably find a family that will give you a chance and take you in but I've never seen that happen. But that doesn't mean give up. We will find you a home," he looked at me through the mirror. "But I want you to promise me that I will never see you on this bus again. Ok?"

I nodded. "I promise."